Worm superglue 'fixes broken bones'

SCIENTISTS have discovered a natural glue so strong it could be used to put broken bones back together.

The substance was found in the sandcastle worm, a common animal that uses the glue to build tube-shaped homes from sand and shell.

Researchers at the University of Utah have created a synthetic version of the glue, and have conducted successful animal tests using it to stick broken bones together.

Professor Russell Stewart, who led the research, said within five years it could be used to repair shattered small bone fragments in fractured knees, wrists, elbows, ankles, and other joints, as well as the face and skull, where it's "very important to get those pieces aligned as precisely possible".

The synthetic glue can also carry drugs, so it could be used to deliver pain killers to injured areas.